In addition to a typical friction braking system that dissipates a vehicle's kinetic energy as heat, hybrid vehicles are typically provided with regenerative braking capability. Regenerative braking is a mechanism that reduces a vehicle's speed by converting some of its kinetic energy into a storable form of energy.
Typically, in hybrid vehicles, regenerative braking employs an electric motor for generating electrical current to charge an on-board storage device, such as one or more batteries. Thus, any energy that is captured during a regenerative braking event and stored within a storage device may be reused at a later time to operate the vehicle and improve the subject vehicle's operating efficiency. On the other hand, any energy that is dissipated by the friction braking is typically lost to the ambient.